A list of benefits that a local energy project could provide. These are aligned with the Ashden Co-benefits Toolkit.
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Impacts of local energy projects
Local energy projects offer a wide range of benefits that are essential to achieving a Net Zero future. At their core, these initiatives help reduce carbon emissions and promote sustainability by changing how energy is produced and used within communities.
One of their most important contributions is the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. By adopting cleaner energy sources like wind, solar, and hydro power, and by improving energy efficiency, local projects reduce the need for fossil fuels. This shift not only cuts emissions but also helps communities use energy more wisely and waste less.
Beyond their environmental impact, local energy projects also play a key role in raising public awareness about climate change. When people see real, local efforts to reduce emissions, it makes the issue more tangible and encourages a sense of shared responsibility. These projects can inspire individuals, businesses, and organisations to take their own steps toward sustainability.
In addition, they help promote and normalise low-carbon alternatives. By showing that clean energy solutions are both practical and beneficial, local projects can influence wider adoption—both within the community and beyond.
What are benefits?
Benefits are the societal good that projects achieve and the reason those projects are implemented. Benefits are measurable improvements resulting from the final result or outcome.
Defining your benefits within a standard framework can help identify potential opportunities to create impact and change. A benefits framework can also provide a robust approach to testing whether a proposed benefit is realistic and if it is measurable.
We have provided a list of benefits that a local energy project could provide, which have been developed alongside the Ashden Co-Benefits Toolkit (Ashden 2021) and the case studies referenced in this project.
Benefits included in a project’s aims must have actions and measurements associated with them to ensure that the benefit is achievable and delivered by the project. The benefits can be the hardest part of a project to measure. They are of particular interest to decision makers who have to decided to carry out the project. To measure them you can use collected data, statistics, surveys or testimonials and interviews.
The benefits framework
The benefits in the framework are arranged into categories to help focus discussion and identify potential stakeholders for whom the benefits apply.
The benefits categories are:
| Net Zero | Actions that reduce carbon emissions in line with Net Zero targets. |
| Health and well-being | Actions that create healthier buildings, spaces, services or environments. |
| Financial | The financial benefits of local energy projects is to save money, make money, and cut costs. These actions are crucial for making these projects not just environmentally friendly but also financially sound. |
| Equity and social | Actions focused on equity and social aspects within the context of the energy transition aim to create a fairer society and ensure that the shift towards sustainable energy is just and equitable. |
| Resilience | Resilience in an energy system can be defined as its ability to reduce the impact of shocks and stresses. |
| Economic opportunity and job creation | Actions that provide local jobs, training, and enterprise opportunities that increase the capacity and capability to deliver Net Zero and create growth in the local economy. |
The framework elements
Each category has a number of elements that can be used to explore the potential impacts a project has on a wide range of stakeholders.
Net Zero benefits
Net Zero benefits are actions that reduce carbon emissions in line with Net Zero targets
The Net Zero benefits of local energy projects are those that are directly related to the reduction of carbon emissions, through reduction of energy use and alternative energy sources. It also includes creating awareness around action towards climate change and potential low-carbon alternatives.
| Reduce carbon emissions | Reducing carbon emissions from all parts of transport, business, and homes is the primary way of achieving Net Zero. Reduction may be through active changes to energy supply, generation, or demand management. |
| Reduce energy use | Reducing energy use can help to reduce carbon emissions. Improvements in building performance can unlock new approaches to carbon reduction. |
| Increase awareness of council action towards Net Zero | Local authorities are working hard to deliver carbon reduction plans across their own assets and in their communities. Increasing awareness of activities and successes can be an important part of creating confidence and momentum towards Net Zero in a local area. |
| Increase awareness of low-carbon alternatives | Helping a community understand the options for low-carbon services and technologies is an important part of creating confidence to deliver Net Zero in a local area. |
Health and well-being benefits
Actions that create more healthy buildings, spaces, services or environment
Local energy projects that emphasise actions that promote healthier buildings, spaces, services, and environments have health and well-being benefits. These endeavours strive to enhance the quality of life for individuals and communities in multifaceted ways.
| Increase access to green space | Green space is well documented to contribute to both physical and mental health through cleaner air, access to nature and opportunity for physical activity. |
| Reduce incidence of respiratory illnesses | Energy projects can create healthy spaces for people, which can lead to fewer respiratory conditions such as asthma. |
| Reduce air pollution | Creating cleaner air has a number of health benefits and improves the quality of life of people in the local area. |
| Improve comfort levels | Creating more comfortable spaces for people can improve outcomes in physical and mental health. It can also increase productivity and user satisfaction. |
| Reduce fuel poverty for better health outcomes | Fuel poverty can have a major impact on health and wellbeing. Elevating people from fuel poverty can increase opportunities for better living. |
| Reduce illness due to damp and poor ventilation | Creating healthier internal spaces can produce better outcomes in physical and mental health. |
| Improve workplace conditions for staff | Healthier workplaces can lead to higher productivity, staff retention and lower health-related absences. |
| Increase physical activity | Higher levels of physical activity are well known to improve both mental and physical health. |
| Reduce noise pollution | High levels of noise can lead to stress and mental health issues. Lowering the noise level in an area can have positive benefits. |
Financial Benefits
Actions that generate revenue, capture monetary value, or reduce expenditure
The financial benefits of local energy projects is to save money, make money, and cut costs. These actions are crucial for making these projects not just environmentally friendly but also financially sound.
Generating income for the council is a smart financial move. Local projects can create revenue that goes right back into the community. Businesses can also receive financial benefits from projects. These projects encourage companies to consider changes that lower their energy bills. This not only makes business sense but also means they’re doing their bit for a greener future.
Beyond just energy bills, some benefits cut down on property maintenance costs. By making buildings more efficient through these projects, there are savings to be had in the long run on things like repairs and upkeep. Local energy projects can help community buildings save on energy costs too. It’s an incentive for communities to engage with local energy projects.
The financial side of local energy projects is all about making good financial sense whilst delivering other benefits. By saving money, making money, and offering cost-effective solutions, these projects contribute to a more sustainable and prosperous future.
| Reduce energy bills for the council | Lower energy bills through changing vectors, technology, or service contracts are a good incentive for local energy projects. |
| Reduce energy bills for low-performing properties | Lowering the bills of low-performing properties. |
| Generate income for the council | Local projects can generate revenue that flows back to the local authority directly. |
| Lower bills for business | Lower energy bills through changing vectors, technology, or service contracts are a good incentive for businesses to consider local energy projects. |
| Provide cost-neutral, low-carbon alternatives | Opportunities to upgrade to low-carbon alternatives without adding significant costs can be provided through local energy projects. |
| Reduce property maintenance costs | Some interventions can provide savings beyond energy bills. Modernising properties through local energy projects can reduce service and maintenance costs. |
| Reduce bills for community buildings | Lower energy bills through changing vectors, technology, or service are a good incentive for communities to consider local energy projects. |
Actions that create a fairer society and ensure the energy transition is just and equitable
In designing and delivering local energy projects, equity and social well-being stands as a vital pillar. These initiatives, driven by the goal of fostering a fairer society, also aim to ensure that the transition to sustainable energy sources remains just and accessible for all.
Projects seeking to provide benefits within the equity and social dimension of local energy projects go beyond technical considerations. They seek to empower communities, promote fairness, and improve the well-being of vulnerable populations, creating a more inclusive and sustainable society as we journey towards a Net Zero future.
| Increase awareness of energy use | Understanding the costs and benefits of energy use can lead to behaviour change, both in energy use and in economic behaviours. This is particularly important in vulnerable households. |
| Increase community activity | Improvements in availability and accessibility of shared community and social areas, including outdoor space and buildings. |
| Increase community engagement | Local energy projects can provide opportunities for local communities to become involved in their local energy system. This may be through direct financial involvement or working to deliver solutions and services. |
| Improve air quality in deprived communities | Energy projects can deliver targeted reductions in air pollution in local areas that will benefit deprived communities. |
| Promote sustainability in vulnerable households | Projects can give vulnerable householders opportunities to understand and engage with wider sustainability issues and activities in the local area. |
| Reduce fuel poverty | Local energy projects can help reduce the number of users struggling to afford energy bills. Fuel poverty can lead to poor health and fewer economic opportunities. |
| Improve social support | Local energy projects can include elements that explicitly set out to achieve better services for vulnerable people in the local area. |
| Increase educational engagement | Local energy projects can be an opportunity to work with people in a wide range of educational establishments, leading to greater understanding of Net Zero issues. |
Resilience benefits
Resilience benefits actions that increase the ability of the local energy system to deliver robust services while adapting to the Net Zero transition
Resilience in an energy system can be defined as its ability to reduce the impact of shocks and stresses, including the capacity to anticipate, absorb, adapt to, and rapidly recover from such events and to transform where necessary. Resilience includes social, technical, and organisational components.
Resilience, as a benefit of local energy projects, refers to the ability of these initiatives to strengthen a community’s capacity to endure and recover from disruptions while maintaining a stable energy supply. These projects can achieve resilience by diversifying energy sources, offering support during emergencies, promoting economic stability, engaging the community, and enhancing environmental resilience. In essence, they bolster a community’s overall ability to adapt and thrive amidst various challenges, ensuring a sustainable and secure energy future.
| Reduce impact of future price increases | Future price increases may be across the board or in a particular service or vector. Reducing the impact of changes can be an important piece of a robust energy system project. This may be achieved by diversifying energy supply or creating more flexible demand that can respond to price signals. Reducing demand can also reduce exposure to future price increases. |
| Reduce negative impact of future changes to the energy system | The energy system may change in unexpected ways in response to climate change. Building resilience that allows communities to respond or adapt to uncertainty can be a benefit that local energy projects bring. |
| Enhance ecological resilience and biodiversity | Energy projects can provide an opportunity for local environmental enhancements through intelligent planning, management, and operation. |
| Reduce impact of outages in the energy system | While the energy system is robust, there may be times when access to energy is not consistent. Providing backups and alternatives to standard energy vectors can provide a high level of resilience depending on the perceived risk and impact. |
Economic opportunity and job creation benefits
Actions that provide local jobs, training, and enterprise opportunities that increase the capacity and capability to deliver Net Zero and create growth in the local economy
Economic opportunity and job creation benefits of local energy projects can serve as a catalyst for both sustainable development and economic growth. By creating economic incentives, generating local jobs, providing training opportunities, improving commuting conditions, and fostering inclusive access to employment, these projects contribute not only to a Net Zero future but also to the prosperity and resilience of the local economy.
| Create local economic development incentives | Creating opportunities to increase economic activity in a local area. |
| Create local jobs and training | Creating opportunities for employment in a local area. |
| Create local apprenticeships | Creating opportunities to increase training and employment opportunities for young people. |
| Reduce journey times | Easier and shorter commutes to workplaces can increase productivity. |
| Increase access to employment | Ensuring all can get access to work and workplaces. |
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